


Bathilda Bagshot and the Intriguing New Inhabitants of Godric’s Hollow

by gryffindork (VenusDeMil0)



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Crack, THEY SHOULD HAVE LIVED, happy halloween:), i LOVE JILY, i literally started this out of nowhere
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-31
Updated: 2019-10-31
Packaged: 2021-01-15 07:33:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,169
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21249725
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VenusDeMil0/pseuds/gryffindork
Summary: bathilda bagshot is curious about the young new couple that moved down the street...





	Bathilda Bagshot and the Intriguing New Inhabitants of Godric’s Hollow

Bathilda Bagshot liked to think that she was a hospitable person. It was just the way that she functioned. Whenever someone new moved to her area of residence, Godric’s Hollow, she always made a point of welcoming them to the neighborhood in any way she could. Always. No matter who they were. It was just the way she was. 

One crisp, chilly October afternoon, Bathilda and her friend Libatius Borage - author of _Advanced Potion Making_ and holder Order of Merlin, First class, not that he would ever let her forget it - were having their weekly tea meeting when she first caught sight of them. The pretty woman with the long dark red hair and the laughing, handsome-faced man with unruly dark hair and glasses. They passed by the window, chatting animatedly, and she could not help but crane her neck to watch them pass by, long after they had left her range of sight.__

_ __ _

__

“What’re you looking at?” Libatius asked her curiously, mouth full of crumbs. She had to refuse the urge to roll her eyes at him. Honestly. For such an esteemed wizard, he was an animal. 

“Have you seen those two before?” she asked, despite herself. “The two people that just passed by. They looked… Hogwarts age.”

“So?” Libatius looked like he couldn’t care less. Dipping a crueller into his tea, he added, “They probably skipped school. No big deal.”

“Yeah. I suppose…” Bathilda trailed off, and let the matter drop there. 

That evening, however, on her daily walk, she felt more aware of her surroundings, subconsciously on the lookout for two Hogwarts students, both with loud hair. She was… curious. Even if they were out of Hogwarts, she wondered what they were doing in Godric’s Hollow, which wasn’t exactly the most touristy destination of the Wizarding World.

But as she made her way down the road, past what appeared as a war memorial to the muggles but was actually a statue of an odd-looking triangle, past the church and the graveyard that housed the remains of Albus Dumbledore’s deceased mother and sister, she couldn’t help but feel that something was different tonight. And it wasn’t because the weather was changing - although if she was being honest, October was her favorite month of the whole year.

And then she happened to pass abandoned the cottage at the end of the row. 

Which, now, apparently, wasn’t abandoned anymore.

When she saw the light streaming out of the windows of the bottom floor, her brain didn’t register it at first. But, after a few seconds of processing, her mind finally caught up with her: Someone new had moved to Godric’s Hollow.

Now, to anyone else, it wouldn’t have been a big deal. And it wasn’t, really. But to Bathilda, it was. It really was. Because she had been an inhabitant of Godric’s Hollow for so long, she made it her mission to get to know everyone else who lived there. And the cottage on the end of the row had been uninhabited for so long, she wasn’t even sure if anyone was going to live there. But now, it seemed, someone did. 

She considered going up to the house and ringing the doorbell to introduce herself. But if there was one thing that Bathilda never did, it was welcome a new neighbor empty-handed. Plus, it seemed that the new movers were… busy. As she passed the house, the hedges scratching her slightly, she heard the unmistakable sounds of laughter erupting from inside, and she couldn’t help but smile. When two people appeared into the view of their downstairs window, however, she couldn’t help but gasp in shock.

It was the same two teenagers that she had seen earlier that afternoon, and they were laughing as the boy (man? She had no idea) pressed the redhead into the couch, ravishing her with kisses. Bathilda could feel her own face form into a fond smile as she watched the two continue to attack each other playfully, just a couple of kids in love. Realizing that this could come off as creepy, however, she made to leave. As she did, her wand accidentally sent of a spark directed at the bushes in front of her, which promptly caught fire.

Damn.

She quickly extinguished the flames (“Aguamenti!”), her cheeks flaming. Ducking underneath the bushes was harder than it should’ve been because compared to Dumbledore, she wasn’t that old. Not really. Peeking through the leaves, she saw that the man had looked up, frowning, and was pulling out his wand. The girl was saying something to him, and a few seconds the front door opened and light spilled out.

“Hello?” The man’s voice was deeper than she’d expected. “Who’s there?”

“Show yourself!” a feminine voice demanded. 

Bathilda stayed silent, hoping that the two would go back inside, and she could continue on her walk. To her dismay, however, she heard footsteps coming up the path toward where she was sitting. Closing her eyes, she prepared to Apparate.

Three, two, one…

And then she was back in her kitchen, watching… Libatius digging through her fridge?

“What are you doing?” she demanded, her heart pounding, and he let out a yelp and turned around, his mouth full of crumbs.

“Oh! Bathilda! You’re back! You usually go for a walk around this time so I just thought…” he trailed off, looking guilty.

“It doesn’t matter. Now sit down.” She sighed. “I know who those two people we saw earlier are. Or rather, I know where they live.”

Libatius took a seat at her kitchen table, disgruntled. “Where?” he asked, eyeing her refrigerator sideways with a look of immense interest.

“At the abandoned house down Godric’s Hollow!”

That caught Libatius’s attention. “But that house has been abandoned for years.”

“I know!”

“So.” Libatius looked at her. “Are you going to go welcome them?”

“What. Now?”

“Yeah!”

Bathilda checked her watch. “It’s only six o’clock,” she said feebly, not wanting to tell them that she was reluctant to go back to the house because she was embarrassed about the fiery mishap. 

Libatius didn’t seem to buy it. “So,” he said again, this time regarding her more suspiciously. “What happened?” 

Bathilda sighed, feeling like a small child. “I set their bushes on fire,” she mumbled. Libatius coughed. 

“Sorry, what was that?”

“I. Set. Their. Bushes. On. Fire. By. Accident,” Bathilda enunciated, wishing to disappear. She felt so immature, standing there in the kitchen, Libatius laughing at her. 

“So go apologize. And take some brownies. People love brownies.”

Yes, Bathilda thought. That was a good idea. People love brownies. And so, and hour and lots of screaming at Libatius later, Bathilda set off to the house at the end of Godric’s Hollow again, this time armed with a plate of gooey brownies, that truth be told, she was considering eating herself. 

When she reached the residence of the new couple for the second time that evening, it seemed more silent than it had before, but it was a thick, ominous type of silence. She made her way up the front walk, and was about to ring the doorbell when suddenly, out of nowhere, a large, thick net fell from the porch ceiling and tightened around her.

So they’d booby-trapped the place for intruders. Which was fair. And, as Bathilda soon realized, the more she struggled against the hold of the net, the more it tightened around her.

The door opened with a bang, and the man she had seen before leaped out, pointing his wand threateningly at her. “Aha!”

Bathilda blinked up at him.

He stared at her, confused. After a few seconds of silence, he looked behind him into the house and bellowed, “Lily? Could you come here a second?”

The pretty red-haired woman, apparently named Lily, was soon by his side. “What’s - oh.” She, too also looked confusedly at Bathilda. “Hello.”

“Hi,” Bathilda said, feeling like a child for the second time that evening. “I-I mean no harm.”

“That’s exactly what someone who meant harm would say,” the man said, regarding her with suspicion. But Lily rolled her eyes at him.

“Here.” And soon the net was magicked off and Bathilda found that she could breathe normally again.

“So,” Lily said, and Bathilda noticed that her eyes were a startling, piercing green, “How can we help you?”

“She might be a Death Eater,” the man singsonged, running a hand through his hair, though his voice sounded more relaxed than when he had first burst onto the porch.

“Oh, shut it, James.” Lily slapped his arm, though she was grinning fondly. “How can we help you?” she asked Bathilda, in an albeit nicer tone.

“Um,” Bathilda held out the tray of brownies, “I know you two are new to the neighborhood, and I just wanted to welcome you, so I brought you some brownies.”

The smell wafting out of the pan was enough to make her own mouth water, and as she passed it to Lily, she swore that both Lily and James had cartoon hearts in their eyes as they stared lustfully at the dish.

It was, in short, adorable.

“Thank you very much!” Lily’s eyes sparkled as she smiled at Bathilda. Setting the dish on a nearby porch table, she stuck out her hand. “I’m Lily. Lily Potter. And this is my husband, James Potter.”

As she shook both of their hands, she couldn’t help but notice James’s proud, adoring smile when she had introduced him as her husband and used his last name. Here was a man who truly loved his wife.

Not sure whether she should stay or leave, Bathilda turned around to head back to her house. But before she could descend the first step, Lily called out after her. “Wait! I didn’t catch your name, I’m sorry.”

“Oh.” Bathilda turned around. “My name’s Bathilda Bagshot.” Both James and Lily’s eyes widened. "You might know me from-”

“A History of Magic!” James and Lily both finished together.

“Yeah.” Bathilda suddenly felt very self-conscious. “That.”

“I love that book!” Lily exclaimed, looking like she was having an epileptic shock. “And turns out the person who wrote it is my new neighbor!”

“Blimey!” Even James looked impressed. “That’s certainly something, isn’t it…”

“So, welcome to the neighborhood,” Bathilda ended softly.

“Yeah! Thank you so much for the brownies! I’d invite you in, but we’re still unpacking,” Lily explained guiltily, gesturing to the boxes piled up behind her in the doorway.

“It’s quite all right.” Bathilda found that she quite liked this new couple. They were the fresh burst of air that Godric’s Hollow needed. “Take care.”

“Thank you!” James and Lily both chorused.

Bathilda made her way down the steps before realizing that she had forgotten to invite them over for Sunday tea. She shuffled back up the steps apprehensively (she wasn’t too crazy about the net) and reached for the door handle. When she opened the front door, she couldn’t help but laugh at the sight.

James and Lily were both sprawled on the floor, staring up at the ceiling, the already half-empty brownie tin between them. (Which was quite impressive, because the brownie tin was quite large.) Both of them had large, fudgy chocolate stains all over their faces, as if they’d dived mouthfirst into the fudgy treat the moment she had left, and they were laughing as James took Lily’s hand and used his finger to trace circles on her palm, perfectly content. 

Bathilda stood at the front door for a few seconds, not wanting to break their moment, before clearing her throat. “Ahem.”

“Oh!” Lily sat up, then realizing that someone was in the room, hastily wiped the chocolate stains off her face. “Hello, Bathilda. Erm, Mrs. Bagshot. Uh, Mrs. Bathilda Bagshot. Um…”

James’s laughter did nothing to improve the redness of Lily’s face. “You can call me Bathilda, dear,” Bathilda kindly told her over James’s laughter, and her embarrassment seemed to fade. “I just wanted to invite you dears to tea at my house on Sunday afternoon. It’s the one three houses down with the hydrangeas. Oh, and Libatius Borage might be there, I'm not sure if you know him…”

From the look on her face, Lily did indeed know him, and she looked as if she was about to faint. Deciding to leave before Lily underwent breathing paralysis, Bathilda added quickly, “So I’ll see you Sunday?”

“Yeah, you will,” James sounded like he was biting back laughter, chocolate still smeared across his face. “Thank you very much.”

Bathilda exited their house with a smile, then Apparated on the top step back to her own kitchen where Libatius was still there, eating a packet of crisps. 

“So you welcomed them, then?” he asked, digging one out of the packet.

“Yeah,” Bathilda smiled. “I did.” And she knew in her heart that she was looking forward to getting to know James and Lily a lot better. Because, as had told herself before, they were the breath of fresh air that Godric’s Hollow needed.


End file.
